Wez (Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior)
Wez is a member of Lord Humungus' Marauders in Mad Max 2. Biography Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior Wez is first encountered during the opening chase of the film. He and several other marauders pursue Max. Max manages to avoid their attacks, resulting in Wez being hit by friendly fire. However, he is unfazed, as he merely pulls the arrow out of his arm, holsters it, and rides away. Wez is later seen harassing the population of an oil Refinery, attempting to enter. After his companion Golden Youth, is killed by the feral kid, Wez becomes even more enraged and determined to capture the refinery, to the point where Humungus has to restrain him with chains. He is turned loose during the marauder's pursuit of the tanker truck, driven by Max. He eventually climbs onto the hood of the truck, only to be killed when Humungus rams the tanker head-on. Backstory George Miller instructed Vernon Wells to fill in Wez's backstory and Vernon imagined Wez as a former Vietnam veteran. However, there is a lot of controversy regarding Wez's sexuality and his relationship with the Golden Youth. George Miller explicitly stated that certain characters, including the Golden Youth, were originally written as the opposite sex of what they are in the movie. (In other words, the Golden Youth was originally written as a female.) Miller explained this by saying that sexuality became interchangeable after the apocalypse.1 Vernon Wells, on the other hand, explained on multiple occasions that Wez's relationship with the Golden Youth was purely platonic, resembling a father-son relationship. Furthermore, he explained that there was a scene cut from the movie showing Wez saving a child (the Golden Youth) from marauders and raising him as his own.2 There is no evidence of that scene ever existing, not even in the earliest drafts of the script (preceding the widely available April 1981 early draft). Original script Max first spots Wez along with a gang of marauders cannibalizing a farm vehicle whom have set a farm shack on fire and hung three of its occupants on a tree. They notice Max and chase after him. Only the fastest vehicles can catch up with Max. The following scene is the opening chase scene of The Road Warrior 3. Outfit * Shoulder pads: Wez wears Rawlings Crusader FB-series football shoulder pads. His left-hand shoulder pad plate is spray-painted silver, his right-hand shoulder pad plate was removed, and the pads have black rooster tail feathers attached to the collar area. Black waffle-pattern carpet padding (known as carpet underlay in Australia) can be found on the deltoid pad * Belt: A leather belt covered with black carpet padding held on by a checker pattern of 3/8″ cone studs. 6 straps on the back. The belt is about 12″ on the front and tapers on the top, although the leather base may be much narrower. * Trousers: Black leather motorcycle chaps, with crossbow bolt holders on the right thigh, and leather flap over the center of the buttocks. Zippers are on the insides. These could have been chaps designed for fetish use. * Codpiece: Black leather codpiece with one central rear thong. Silver male snaps are fastened onto the front. Other snaps appear to allow for the removal of the front of the codpiece. * Baseball shin guards: He wears part of a baseball shinguard on his right arm (this type has been sold under different brand names including “American” & “Premier”), and has a distinctive kidney-shaped lower crater. Baseball shin guards (possibly Rawlings or All-Star brand) on his legs. These shin guards have 3 rectangular indentations each, have no instep guard and just have the one segment for the knee on top. * Boots: Square toe motorcycle boots with leather-and-chain boot harnesses (leather on both top straps, chain on the lower) with small pyramid studs on the rear strap. * Armbands: He wears two armbands on his right arm. At the top of his bicep is a black cotton bandana. At the bottom of his bicep is a leather band with a silver concho and feathers. The concho is tied on with black leather lace. * The final chase: During the final chase sequence, Wez also wears white war paint on his face, and a metal collar locked onto his neck.4 Vehicle Wez drives a Kawasaki KZ 900 or 1000 made to look like Suzuki Katana. The reason being the production crew saw Suzuki Katana in a magazine during production, but couldn't get a hold of it in Australia, so they modified a Kawasaki instead. Technical specification: * Modified Vetter Quicksilver from 1979 * KZ900(Z1) or early KZ1000 motor * Finned clutch cover - aftermarket mod * KZ1000 1st gen mag wheels * Z1R turbo exhaust/manifold (fake) * Scratch build bobber Cafe seat with sheep skin * Fabricated side skirts on a stock KZ1000 front fender * Zarly Z1 fuel tank * Fabricated covers over the carb/turbo area (probably to hide the very non turbo carburators and sell the fake turbo) * Front and rear stock suspension from KZ900/early KZ1000 Trivia Contrary to popular belief, the wheelie stunt was not performed with a dummy, but rather by a local Broken Hill resident and his girlfriend. Category:Humans Category:Movie villains Category:Big Bad Category:Deceased Villains Category:Live Action Villains Category:Action Movie Villains